ISA-Brown page. :)))))))

somehow i was lucky enough to come across nearly 3 dozen pullets. i'd love to find a rooster to mate them with. is it true that the rooster is ?red and the hen white? or does it matter as long as youve got one of each color? ive got a RIR cockerel for when they all get of age. 

 

The ISA Brown is a 4 way cross, where 4 grand parent birds are used that results in a red rooster used over  silver(white) hen to produce the sex linked chicks, pullets being brown and cockerels being white.  This bird is patented, like many commercial strains are and the genetics are closely guarded.

 

Your idea of using a RIR cockerel over them is a good idea.  We actually bred ISA to ISA for a few generations.  If you're interested, you can read more here:

 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/660815/breeding-sex-links-third-generation

Townline Hatchery, Zeeland, MI is the only licensed US breeder/seller of ISA Browns, that I am aware of.  They do show photos of the parent stock on their website. The rooster is obviously a mix of RIR blood, but there's likely brown leghorn as well.  The hen is a white bird and hard to identify the genetics, by type.

 

Since the strain has been selectively bred for over 30 years.  There's a lot of research behind the strain.  Here's the "owners manual" from ISA Genetics for commercial hen houses.  I have found it interesting reading.     http://www.morrishatchery.com/mngmt_guides/ISA%20Brown%20Guide-Nov.%203,2010.pdf

yall are awesome. appreciate it. so would it be better to find an isa rooster, or just as good to use my rir?

 

Well, that's hard to say.  The problem with using the ISA rooster is the chicks eventually, in our experience, begin to become somewhat "average" and lose the red coloration very quickly.  The RIR rooster would be nifty, because your chicks would pick up that red, production red type coloration.  We are breeding an RIR over our ISA's this year and while it is too soon to judge, we really like the little red chicks we are getting.  I must also say that not all ISA roosters are particularly nice.  We've found them a bit on the over bearing side.  Since you already have the red, that's what I'd use first and see if you like what you get.

so basically the offspring of my isa's and rir would have average, if not slightly better considering their parents. Thank God for your experiment. I'm definately keeping all my girls until they die. potentially less feed consumption while laying probably more than the average hen. i love it. it seems like you confirmed what ive been thinking as far as the sex links are concerned. my original thought (a bit naive) was i'd have 2 roosters (RIR and BR) and 3 types of hens (ISA, BSL, and BR), and no matter how they reproduced, i'd have some variation of the original (cross)breeds. now ive got my BR and BSL seperate from the ISA's and RIR.

This seems to be true of any breed or cross in my experience. Of the three ISA boys from last year's birds I have one who is a bit obnoxious to the other roosters in the pen, but he's not the top bird so he doesn't get too much out of hand. I'd cull him, but he's also the largest of the three...

The four boys from this year's batch haven't yet evidenced enough personality to differentiate themselves one from another. There was more color difference than I was expecting when they were still in their juvenile plumage but that has mostly disappeared since they grew in their adult feathering.

This year's ISA Brown chick order when it came in from Townline.


Now in the brooder.


A shot of this year's ISA Brown order in their grow-out pen. Around ten-twelve weeks as I recall.


The first eggs from those birds laid about three days ago. They are a little pale for this early in the season. The eggs laid the next day were closer to the darker brown color they normally lay in the first half of their season.


Two of the pullets the day I found the first eggs in their tractor.


Previous year's photos look substantially the same so I won't bother with those.

No one else wants to contribute to the discussion? I think an ISA Brown thread is a good idea.